Women airbrushed out of Saudi catalogue, SO WHAT???

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Whilst there are thousands of people massacred in Syria and in other parts of the world and other important issues that need to be tackled, I find it most shocking that the western media have gone into a frenzy regarding the Saudi Arabian IKEA catalogue. Every year the Swedish based company produces over two million catalogue copies that are distributed world wide. The brand has enjoyed success within the Middle Eastern market with a whopping profit recorded on an annual basis.The controversy arose when it was discovered that the Saudi Arabian catalogue had been digitally manipulated thereby removing females and cups containing wine from the catalogue. Many of my Saudi colleagues do not understand what the big " hallabaloo " is regarding the catalogue. In Saudi Arabia it is very much the norm where you will not find female images splashed across a billboard or newspaper for that matter. The catalogue in my opinion is in line with Saudi tradition and customs. Wine is forbidden in Islam and hence was removed from the catalogue and when anyone thinks of Saudi Arabia the first thought that comes to mind is a veiled woman or a woman in a headscarf. Hence, marketing catalogues that may work and promote a certain lifestyle or image in the west may not necessarily have the same effect in other parts of the world that are deeply rooted in customs and traditions. Branding strategist Peter Shankman reasons that,“when you’re selling globally, you have to be aware of all of the different ways of life around the world. What flies in America might not fly in Saudi Arabia,” Shankman explains. “In America, whether we believe that to be normal or ok or not, is irrelevant to how they’re selling in Saudi Arabia. If you’re selling in a country that has specific rules and specific rights, you need to appeal to those rights.”

Suddenly, I find that every newspaper or media coverage is out there to vilify Islamic norms and traditions. It seems as though the whole world is caving in on Islam. The stark reality though is that the more western media try to slander the religion of Prophet Muhammed (saw), more people have started taking an interest in the religion and many have reverted to Islam. Observing all the news reports regarding the IKEA fiasco on television, I thought to myself, why have they not asked Muslim women who wear the hijaab or the niqaab what they feel about it. Most Saudi women I know are proud of their culture and tradition and they adorn their hijaab and veil because they want to, because it is a part of their traditional values. Whilst the media have been babbling on about the fact that the absence of women in the catalogue symbolizes a lack of women's rights within the Islamic world especially within Saudi Arabia, it is interesting to note that it is Islam and the shariah that uplifted the position of women in society years ago.In Europe until the 19th century, women did not have the right to own their own property. When they were married, either it would transfer to the husband or she would not be able to dispense of it without permission of her husband. In Britain, perhaps the first country to give women some property rights, laws were passed in the 1860's known as "Married Women Property Act." More than 1300 years earlier, that right was clearly established in Islamic law.

I am not going to allow a scantily clad journalist on CNN to tell me what my rights should be as a Muslim woman. It is high time that the west respects Islamic and Middle Eastern culture. They should certainly not be enjoying huge profit margins earned from Muslim Arab wealth if they fail to comply with the traditional and religious sentiments of those nations. Mind you,it is not only Saudi Arabia that utilizes digital manipulation techniques like airbrushing to filter out inappropriate female images that are against cultural and religious norms. Newspapers in Israel that are run by the conservative orthodox Jewish community who follow the teachings of the Torah and not the Talmud also adopt these techniques. Dressing modestly is very much a part of traditional Jewish culture as well. Orthodox Judaism does not allow for interaction between the sexes prior to marriage.Women belonging to an orthodox Jewish community are required to wear close-necked, long sleeve blouses and long skirts. Traditional Jewish women also cover their hair either with a headscarf or a sheitel (a Yiddish word for wig). 

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Hence, the question remains, why isn't the Jewish community or Judaism as a whole vilified by the media? Why isn't women's rights questioned in Judaism? Why is it that at every opportunity the west finds, they choose to bring down Islam, bring down the Prophet Muhammed (saw), question and condemn women's rights in Islam. In my opinion it all boils down to fear.

Ultra-orthodox Jewish women visit the Israel Museum exhibition "A World Apart Next Door" in Jerusalem on June 19 2012. The ethnographic exhibition highlights facets of the culture of the Hasidic Jews. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA

When questioned about the whole Ikea debacle,this is what Eman Al Nafjan, writer and blogger who tweets as Saudiwoman had to say,"We're beyond that right now in Saudi Arabia," she told CNN. "With Internet and satellite TV, there's really no such thing anymore as blacking out women or airbrushing out women. I would be upset if something like Google was doing it, but for IKEA to do it, that's just marketing -- it's not such a big deal."